Our state symbol is the Old Man of the Mountain. I see him every day on my car license plate, the state highway signs feature his profile, and the many magnets on my fridge from trips to the White Mountains. However, it has been ten years ago today since anyone has seen the Old Man of the Mountain where he belonged, up on the side of Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch.
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| 1955 U.S. stamp |
Generations of my family remembered the Old Man. I remember my Grandfather asking me if we had stopped to view him after a family trip to the White Mountains. I remember my Dad stopping the old family station wagon at Profile Lake so we could all take a look. I remember posing my daughter "just so" under his profile so we could get a photo of her "kissing" the Old Man. If you are from New England I suppose you have similar memories.
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| As seen on eBay |
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| 2000 New Hampshire State Quarter |
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| 2005, Where the Old Man used to be |
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| This sign was hung at Profile Lake in 2005 to show how the collapse of the profile rock formation probably happened. |
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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "10 Years without the Old Man", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 3, 2013, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/05/10-years-without-old-man.html: accessed [access date]).
I remember visiting the Old Man several times while living in NH in the late 50s to mid-60s. I was surprised, but not shocked, when I heard on the radio ten years ago that he had fallen. There had been predictions for years and attempts to prop him up.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at your 2005 photo though, there is no need for a faux fiberglass Old Man. He is still there but MUCH larger. The view is at his left shoulder seeing the back of his now humongous head and his long flowing grey-white beard that lays on his barrel chest. His is Falstaffian now. You can make out his left ear at the dark spot just right of dead center of the photo. And then there is his brow just above his piercing black eye that looks off into the distant cloudy blue sky -- photo left. He has grown quite rotund and has a nice head of hair though flat against his broad skull. ;-) Not gone -- just having gone through a bit of metamorphiosis!
Oh, how very sad. I did not know that the Old Man of the Mountain was the victim of a landslide. I'm glad you have ways to memorialize him. I have in-laws in New Hampshire, but I think they arrived after he was gone. That's a majestic-looking stamp. "Live Free or Die."
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